Dimethyl sulfoxide in acute ischemia of the kidney

Renal ischemia was produced in rats by clamping of the renal artery for 1 h. Upon termination of the ischemic period a 20% solution of DMSO (5 g kg-1 b.w.) was given intravenously to 33 rats. Eighteen control animals received normal saline. All DMSO-treated animals survived while all control animals died within the subsequent seven days. At 24 h following the experiment, the mean blood urea of the control rats was 254 mg/100 ml and the mean plasma creatinine 7.2 mg/100 ml. By contrast, the DMSO-treated rats had a mean blood urea of 69 mg/100 ml and plasma creatinine of 1.6 mg/100 ml. In 17 animals the kidney was perfused with DMSO prior to the closure of the renal artery. All these rats survived the procedure and showed near normal kidney function at 24 h. The renal artery was clamped for 60 min in ten dogs. Five dogs received DMSO (3 g kg-1 b.w.) and the other five received an equivalent dose of normal saline. Three weeks later a contralateral nephrectomy was performed. Renal function was normal in the DMSO-treated dogs. One control dog died of uremia, in the remaining four a transient renal failure was observed. These experiments in two different animals highlight the protective effect of DMSO on the ischemic kidney when the drug is administered after the ischemic period.